The Only Night
by Queen Lumina
Summary: Time was once eternal for her. But now it was all too brief and there would never be enough of Time to fully reconcile with who she was about to lose.. [Pure Lemon, Auron x OC, may expand into a full story if received well.]


**Title** : The Only Night

 **Fandom** : FFX

 **Characters** : Auron & Claire (OC)

 **Genre** : Romance

 **Rating** : M

 **Author's Note** : Well, I wrote this over the course of about two weeks, ever since I defeated FFX. I really had forgotten how much I loved Auron as a character and I was glad to have that love rekindled when I replayed the game on PS4. I have a huge thing for swordsmen in general... Anyway, this was really meant to be pure smut but if well received, I may expand upon my OC's story. Claire is one of my oldest OCs, with varying facets depending upon the fandom I put her in... I really would appreciate criticism but of course, also the simple compliment if you enjoyed it.

.x.

The airship glided smoothly through the clouds, bathed in silver from the full moon as it sped over Spira. Headed towards the final confrontation that Yuna and her Guardians would have with Sin. Despite the impending struggle ahead of them, the group had dispersed after long hours discussing plans with Cid and retired to bed. All but one.

A tall brunette woman stood pressed against the railing of cockpit, dark hair streaked with silver pulled back into a braided ponytail that swept down her back. She wore something similar to a hanfu; a deep emerald robe covering a tucked in shirt and skirt, cinched around the waist by a wide golden sash. The sleeves were voluminous and concealed her hands, which curled with pale knuckles over the metal rail. She had a youthful face, despite the vague wrinkles near her eyes, which were a muted shade of amber. Her name was Claire and she'd become one of Yuna's Guardians in Kilika.

It had been a long journey and the many weeks spent traveling had worn her, both physically and mentally. But then, she'd lived far longer than the average Spiran and generally carried a sense of weariness in her demeanor. Now the story was coming to a close and when once Time seemed eternal for her, it was despairingly short and she knew some things simply couldnt be delayed any longer. Resolve hardening her once neutral expression, Claire swept out of the bridge and into the airship's winding halls towards the private quarters, intent on changing and then disturbing a certain one-eyed Monk.

.X.

Slipping into his room was the easy part. Everyone was asleep and whatever noise she might've made was drowned out by the thrum of the airship. Nobody was in the halls either, with a majority of the crew sans Cid and his son flying the machine away from Zanarkand. There was no window in Auron's room and no other source of artificial light, the space entirely swallowed in absolute shadows. Her eyes didnt even have enough time to adjust with some magical influence before her presence was acknowledged.

"What's wrong?" His voice was a husky timbre, loud enough for her to hear but hazy with disrupted slumber. For a moment the brunette felt a twinge of guilt about waking him but then the gravity of their impending separation hit her and she drifted on silent, bare feet to his bedside.

"Nothing," Claire murmured at first, fingers brushing the rumpled blankets on his mattress to find a spot to perch on the edge, "I didnt think we'd get much time to speak in private after this.." The darkness shifted and swam in her sight, making it so she could see Auron lying on his back, covered in a blanket from the waist down. His chest was bare and she could see it rise and fall with his steady breathing.

"The journey is coming to an end, that leaves little time for leisure," her comrade rumbled in answer, more awake now and shifting in his bed to sit up. The change in position had Auron leaning close to her and though there was no light, they made eye-contact in the cool shadows. He could smell the faintly sweet lavender notes lingering on her skin and the mint on her breath. While she smelled the steel and spice of him, his body heat brushing against her to elicit goosebumps along her arms.

Claire drew breath to speak; for all her long years lived, their wisdom and experience seem to have fled her when speaking to the scarred monk. "Auron, I-"

"No." Not even two words and he cut her off, voice still low and the warmth of his breath brushing across her face before he leaned away. It was a motion she knew well; he didnt want her close. "I know why you came to me, Claire. And I cant," a pause, "We cant."

"Why? Because you dont harbor any kind of feelings for me? Or because you still hold to the Monk's code you've long since abandoned? Or is it because you're an unsent?" The woman challenged him, her temper sparking in a rare moment.

Moments ticked by before he deigned to reply, recovering from the momentary shock of her apparent discovery of his unsent status. "How did you find out?" Auron all but demanded, feeling his hands clench into fists at his side as he leered at her, albeit the full effect of his glare is tempered by the darkness they linger in.

"Hints here and there, the most apparent being your reluctance to enter the Farplane. And whenever...I touched you, you...seemed different to my senses. Different from the rest of our group.. My healing magic is averse to the dead." She explained at length in turn before pressing onwards, giving him no leeway in butting in again. "But that doesnt matter to me. Unsent or not, your heart still beats and you draw breath each day. You know how I feel about you, dont you?" Claire tapered off there, feeling her chest tighten with anxiety. How cursed she was! To love a dead man. To live longer than all of her friends, to see them ripen with age as she remained youthful. To have paid witness to the endless spiral of Death that ensnared Spira...

"I couldnt say goodbye to you again without speaking to you about this, Auron." The mage adds quietly and then lapses into silence once more.

Auron shook his head slightly, going unseen but he felt the motion was needed anyway to try and clear his thoughts. He couldnt rightfully deny his own affection for the woman; they'd become comrades during his days as Braska's guardian, though brief that segment of their journey together had been. He'd seen her not even a handful of times over the ten years following Braska's death and even during those meetings, she'd always been a comforting presence. And he respected her abilities as a mage and a swordswoman, having grown more skillful in the half decade of their separation. When had his genial respect for her turned into something more? But the way he felt for her meant little when his inevitable demise lay ahead, he could promise her nothing worth while.

"It's better this way, there is nothing for us to become." He said simply, toneless but firm as ever.

"You're wrong. We have now, right now and that is all I'll ever ask for." Claire snorts softly, "Even if fate werent so certain, I would still outlive you anyway." She added a bit wryly, making a rare mention of her cursed longevity.

He doesnt reply and after a few minutes, the brunette shifts as if to stand and take her leave. For it truly seems as if her visit was futile, given how stubborn Auron could be. The bed creaks softly with the loss of her additional weight but a warm, calloused hand encloses upon her wrist, begging her pause.  
"Auron?" She cautions a whisper,

"Only tonight, would that really be enough for you?" He asked while simply holding her wrist, his grip was firm but still light enough to be broken with a brief tug, if she so wished. Damn it all to the pits, Auron thought, why deprive himself of this singular chance at some semblance of release, of the serenity she could offer?

Claire drew a long breath and though part of her screamed it would never be enough; she wanted forever with him. Wanted a normal life with him. To grow old and more gray... But those were dreams and this was the reality. Sin would die forever and she would lose the man she loved; she would live all the longer, alone.

"Yes," just the barest sigh of a reply, kneeling on the mattress again; him loosing the grip on her wrist to instead pull her into his embrace. Warmth enveloped her as she settled in his lap, "Is it enough for you?" The question posed back to him, a whisper as they were so close to one another.

Auron wanted to say 'No' but instead he kissed her, pulling her softer, leaner frame against his broad, hard chest. She gave no protest and looped her wiry arms around his shoulders, arranging herself to straddle his lap and press flush against him. The initial kiss was tentative, almost chaste even as they grew accustomed to one another's feel and taste; his lips were slightly chapped, lingering with hints of sake and hers were softer than silk and tasted like sweet peppermint. She boldly swept her tongue over his lips to moisten them and he responded by humming low in his chest, pressing his palms against her lower back as he tightened his hold on her.

Their confidence grew, no longer hesitant about the future, about the inevitable parting they would have to face. Everything fell away in the darkness until it was only them, this moment, kissing growing more passionate and wanton as they took turns dipping into one another's mouths until neither could breath and they broke apart, panting in tandem. Auron slid his calloused hands beneath the hem of her nightshirt to feel her bare flesh, the roughness of his palms against her back created a strange but not unpleasant sensation. Oh how frequent she had imagined feeling him touch her! More gooseflesh prickled into existence and she curved her spine some, squishing her breasts against his torso with a pleased sound. Auron traced the divets along her upper ribcage where scars are indented; he realized they were claw marks after a few seconds of thorough examination.

"Wolf fiend," she explained in a muted voice, her own hands trailing over his chest. She too traced his scars and imperfections, each touch leaving a tingle in its wake as she navigated across his torso to his abdomen and then back upwards along his shoulders. One hand moved to thread through his hair and she leaned in again to kiss him, conveying the soul-deep ardor she felt for her fellow Guardian in yet another breath-stealing kiss. No more words came for a long time yet.

Still embracing her with his hands against her back, Auron twisted their position to lay his partner down onto the bed, her head resting on his pillow. He half leaned over her then, hands questing up beneath her shirt again, over her lean stomach and tickling lightly just at the curve of her ribs. Palms encompassing her breasts to knead the soft, sensitive flesh until she's squirming in an attempt to divest herself of her shirt. The swordsman leans away and withdraws his touch to assist, peeling the fabric up over her head and tossing it aside. And with the offending garment removed, his mouth moved from her lips to her chest. Warmth and wet, teeth gently worrying hardened nipples as the room fills with her lilting moans. It's the most enjoyable form of torture and she's hardly aware of his right hand roaming south until she feels his fingers slide between her legs.

Encouragement takes the form of the brunette sighing his name and Auron takes his time in covering her torso and breasts with kisses both sweet and bruising while kneading her womanhood. Claire is lost in a fathomless sea of pleasure, struggling to keep herself from being too loud yet her muscles tremble all over from his ministrations. He brings her closer and closer to climax but never allows her to tip over the edge, she can feel the smirk on his mouth when he finally migrates up from her chest and captures her lips once again.

Claire groans, the noise melting into a half-hearted growl of frustration when he ceases the pleasurable torture to pull away and divest himself of his pants. Through out his devious machinations, she'd felt his arousal pressing against her leg and thought at last they'd be able to embrace one another completely. She flexes her fingers out of clutching the blankets and writhes to remove her own pants, which Auron also aids with and yanks them down past her knees and off to the floor. They pause, both completely nude but neither could truly see the other because of the dark.

Auron is aching for her but he restrains himself; this is the only night they'd be able to spend together like this. He wanted to ensure the memory would last for the rest of her long life and perchance they might meet somewhere beyond the Farplane... He shakes those morbid thoughts away and whispers, "Wait," against her lips. Trailing kisses down her jaw, throat, torso and over her navel, tongue tracing along the few scars that mar her warm flesh. Her legs part without prompting and where his fingers once had teased her so, now his mouth did. A partly strangled cry tore from her as he pressed his face between her thighs, tongue lapping at the tender, silky skin and flicking against her swollen, sensitive clit.

He notes she tastes vaguely sweet and hums, the sound reverberating through him and to her. At last she crests and curling against the bed, legs trembling and breath sharp, she comes. Waves of hot, mind-numbing ecstasy bring what might've been stars to her eyes but she isnt sure. There's just this all-consuming sensation that lasts for ages, ebbing slowly until it leaves her panting and limp. Auron moves to hover over her, nuzzling into the crook of her neck and she murmurs incoherently, a breathy giggle escaping as his stubble tickles her.

"Auron," finally coherence is capable and Claire mumbles his name, to which he rumbles a 'hmm?'  
"Thank you," she goes on and he chortles without comment, nibbling on the pulse point on her throat as he shifts his legs and using a hand to part her legs a little wider. However it isnt until there are undoubtedly a few hickeys along her throat that she finally feels him press against her, muffling their combined noises with a kiss as he sheathes himself inside of her with a single thrust.

They are still for all of a few breaths, kissing languidly and without any notion of urgency. Auron starts to move, rocking his hips against her slowly at first but picking up in pace steadily and it isnt long before she is clutching onto him tightly. Nails bite into his shoulders but its hardly a source of discomfort, one of his hands pressing into the bed and the other gripping her thigh tightly, lifting her leg up a few inches to get a better angle. Claire hisses groans between her teeth, feeling the pulse of pleasure race through her once again and frees a hand to slip down to where their bodies meet in barely restrained passion.

Together they rise until there is no restraint, only fervor for release. Neither remember nor care who falls first, as its simply one after the other and they spiral down with zealous kisses and hoarse moans. Ecstasy ebbs slowly until it leaves behind a contented dull ache and they break apart, Auron rolling off to lay back adjacent to her and their breathing is the only thing to be heard in the shadows.

They lay quiet in the aftermath, pressed against one another in a tangle of sheets and blankets, hearts beating in rare sync. Claire shifts to lay on her side, fingers curling against Auron's arm to lightly trace patterns against his skin. Her lips move to mouth words but cannot provide sound to make them heard; once, twice, thrice now she forms them on her lips and they drift into the dark at last. "I love you." And for all their murmured brevity, they seem heavy with all the longing and melancholy that weighs upon her shoulders.

"I love you," she repeats and garners no verbal response right away. Auron instead shifts and loops an arm around her, pulling her so that she rolls partially onto his chest and he can press a kiss to her temple.

"I know. And I, you." Just as quiet but carrying that familiar brusqueness he was known for. It is enough for her. It would have to be...


End file.
